Can chickens eat citrus? You’ll be surprised not just by the answer, but by how wrong the myths out there about feeding citrus to chickens really are.

Frequently, we see advice online that advises us to not feed our backyard chickens things like oranges, limes, and lemons.

And in reality, many chickens don’t even like them. Mine don’t.

Sometimes we get fresh produce from a local grocery store (that they otherwise would toss), and while grapes, bananas, and watermelon are snarfed down amazingly quick, citrus is pretty much left to rot. 

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Even the pigs won’t touch it! (Who knew pigs were so discerning?)

But the bottom line is feeding oranges and lemons has some amazing health benefits not just for your chickens, but for their eggs and meat.

I think you’ll be shocked by some of the things you’ll discover in this podcast.

You’ll learn:

  • Why the myths surrounding feeding citrus are bogus
  • How oranges and lemons can help your chickens combat heat stress
  • The herb you always want to feed with citrus (and how to do just that)
  • How citrus can improve the quality of the eggs you’ll ultimately eat

Links we discuss:

Butcher Box 

The Better Egg

Where to buy dried orange peel

Where to buy dried lemon peel

Think chickens shouldn't eat citrus? You couldn't be more wrong. Discover why all those myths are bunk, and how feeding oranges and lemons improves their eggs.

Transcript:

Coming soon.

I’d like to hear from you!

Do you think you’ll try feeding citrus to your chickens? Why or why not? Leave a comment below!

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Maat van Uitert is a backyard chicken and sustainable living expert. She is also the author of Chickens: Naturally Raising A Sustainable Flock, which was a best seller in it’s Amazon category.  Maat has been featured on NBC, CBS, AOL Finance, Community Chickens, the Huffington Post, Chickens magazine, Backyard Poultry, and Countryside Magazine. She lives on her farm in Southeast Missouri with her husband, two children, and about a million chickens and ducks. You can follow Maat on Facebook here and Instagram here.

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6 Comments

  1. I have 2 dozen chickens living in a citrus orchard (50-100 trees) they, along with the wild birds, eat the fallen fruit. Interestingly although they are older hens they are laying in the middle of winter (Southern Hemisphere) maybe it has something to do with the citrus….. Another slightly smaller flock are not getting citrus and are not laying…. Might have to throw some citrus in to them and see if they start laying :o)

  2. my small flock free range under citrus trees. They are great shade trees for keeping my birds cool in summer. I’m not sure weather they eat the windfall fruit or not,…

  3. We have several chicken and every time I give them oranges they never seem to eat them. Or if they do it is only a little.

  4. My chicken love oranges. They don’t like the skin I have to cut them open into 4 pieces and they eat the centers clean of all fruit.

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